Articles

Jason Cochran

Article / Passportable

Virgin America Releases the Grooviest In-Flight Safety Video of All Time

A few weeks ago, Air New Zealand bent the rules of due diligence by bringing out an uproarious in-flight safety video featuring Betty White and Gavin McLeod and set at a retirement…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Soon You Can Use Electronic Devices During Most of the Flight, the FAA Declares

The FAA has decided it's safe to operate most electronics for the duration of a commercial flight.In a press release issued on Halloween, it said that although mobile phone use…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Low-Cost Carrier Norwegian To Tackle American Market with $584 Round-Trip New York to London

A new player for low-cost airfares from the United States to Europe is materializing.Norwegian Air, already the third-largest low-cost carrier in Europe, will launch 787…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

TSA Checkpoint in Dallas Outfitted with Couches, Music, Mood Lighting: Corporate Branding Brings Respect

People who use Terminal E in Dallas have experienced the change. Where the TSA checkpoint was once bleak and gunmetal grey, now there is music streaming from Pandora and lavender…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

At Westin, If You Decline Housekeeping, They'll Give You $5 to Spend

If you're cheap, you will now benefit from being a slob, too.Westin, an upscale-ish branch of the giant Starwood group of hotels, has a new idea. If you do something "great for…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Three Hot New Travel Inventions Coming to You Soon Through Crowdfunding

The entire Internet is now an episode of Shark Tank. Inventors with a good idea no longer have to go the traditional route and sell out to VCs and banks—they can take the product…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Three Hot New Travel Inventions Coming to You Soon Through Crowdfunding

The entire Internet is now an episode of Shark Tank. Inventors with a good idea no longer have to go the traditional route and sell out to VCs and banks—they can take the product…

Article / Passportable

The Trailer for 'Pompeii' Starring Kit Harrington Mistakes Tourist Attraction for History

The cheesy, pectoral-flexing Hollywood treatment of the destruction of Pompeii will arrive in cinemas in February, but the quick teaser trailer is already here.It starts as the…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

A Few Lucrative National Parks Are Reopened, But Most American Treasures Remain Forbidden

To help curb some of the damage cause to income and tourism by the Congressional-led government shutdown, state governments are now permitted to open National Park units they deem…

Article / Passportable

Watch Betty White's New In-Flight Safety Video for Air New Zealand

Air New Zealand, an airline known for its celeb-studded safety videos (which have featured Richard Simmons and, erm, some hobbits, managed to convince TV legend Betty White to do its…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Is the TSA Pulling Aside Travelers at Airport Security to Make Sales Pitches for TSA Pre Check?

Word comes to me today from a traveler who had a strange experience at the airport in Las Vegas today.The traveler, who did not wish to be named, told me that he and several other…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

If You Dance or Sing, Trade Your Talent for Travel Across Canada or the Atlantic Ocean

Canada's Globe and Mail broke the story open, and now everyone with a guitar may be begging to sign up: Via Rail, Canada's national railway, grants free train tickets and meals to…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Forget the Phone. Now Twitter is the Place to Get the Fastest Customer Service

"Man invented language to satisfy his deep need to complain." —Lily TomlinAnd man invented Twitter to make sure everyone had to listen.It's pretty obvious that Twitter is a…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

The Dalmatian Daytona: Croatia's Popularity with Young Travelers Surges

According to the national tourism board of Croatia, some 300,000 United Kingdom residents flocked to the sunny Mediterranean country between January and August, a 24% rise from the…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Government Shutdown: What Travelers Can Still Do, and What's Closed

There are lots of long, explaining articles about what's causing the shutdown, but they don't make it easy to figure out what's closed for travelers and what's open. We'll make this…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

JetBlue Upgrades Its Standard Seats: Power Outlets, Bigger TVs, Triple the Channels

At a media event on the roof of its New York City headquarters today, set-price airline JetBlue, which since it inception has been a one-class airline, unveiled an overhaul of its…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Hilton Is Killing Room Service at Some Large Hotels, And Look at The Replacement

Last spring, Hilton cemented a new trend among major hotel brands when it killed all room service at its 2,000-room New York Hilton Midtown, Manhattan's largest hotel, joining its…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

TodayTix: A Promising New Source for Scoring Deep Discounts on Broadway Show Tickets

Broadway is huge business, and a major tourism industry. Last season, which ended in May, raked in a staggering $1.14 billion in grosses for New York City's theatres.In the same…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Schussing Savings: No It’s NOT too Early To Book Your Winter Ski Trip

No white stuff: less green stuff—that’s the crude equation that rules the ski industry. It was a point driven home in the winter of 2011-2012, when snowfalls that were 50% lower than…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Rooms for $100 in New York City During 'Hotel Week NYC', coming January 3 to 12

Once again, many New York City hotels have banded together and chosen a low-season week during which to knock rates down to approachable levels. The next "Hotel Week NYC" as they…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

U.S. Government Is Pushing TSA PreCheck to New Passport Recipients, But Global Entry Would Be Smarter

Get a new passport these days, and it will arrive with a new bookmark urging you to sign up for TSA PreCheck. Volunteer some personal information about yourself beforehand, it says,…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

New 5-Star Iberostar Playa Mita Slashes Room Rates as Low as $105, But Book By Sept. 30

Iberostar, a Spanish operator of major beach resorts for the past 30 years, is opening its first resort on the Mexican Pacific Coast this December, and to drum up word of mouth, it's…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Here's Why You Don't Want to Buy the Disney Dining Plan When You Visit Orlando

If you book a vacation at a Walt Disney World hotel in Orlando, you will be offered the option of purchasing the credit-based Disney Dining Plan, which pre-pays many of your meals.…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Andante Travels Uses Archaeologists and Professors to Show You the World's Greatest Treasures

While very few U.S. companies now hire professors and experts as tour guides without also charging usurious tariffs for the privilege, the tradition of affordable educational tours…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Car Rentals Through Firefly, a New Brand, are Dramatically Cheaper than Others, So What's the Catch?

Firefly, a discount car rental brand, begins arriving at American airports this month. You might think it's a new competitor. As it turns out, everything about it is older than you…